ABSTRACT
To most intending research students, particularly those in business schools, the prospect of undertaking a Qualitative Research (QR) study is unfortunately all too infrequently contemplated. There are several explanations for this. First, the dominant research paradigm in many business-related research journals is quantitative and positivist. Second, many academic supervisors are trained in quantitative methods but largely unfamiliar with qualitative methods. Third, there is a perception among many researchers and research students that QR is complex, ill defined, messy, time-consuming and difficult to circumscribe. Yet, despite these constraints, QR is becoming an increasingly important method of generating research theses and of contributing to the published research literature.
